Console Corner: Firewatch looks a work of art

Damien Lucas

One of the first big releases of the year lands this week as Firewatch is launched on PlayStation 4 and PC.

You play Henry, a fire lookout at the Shoshone National Forest in Wyoming in the late 80s.

The first-person adventure is one of the most atmospheric games I’ve seen and just watching a gameplay run-through on YouTube you find yourself fully immersed and unable to take your eyes off it.

Firewatch takes place in the Wyoming wilderness in 1989 and follows Henry’s story in the aftermath of the Yellowstone fires of 1988.

Through exploration of the surrounding area, Henry uncovers clues about mysterious occurrences in the vicinity that are related to the ransacking of his tower while out on a routine patrol and a shadowy figure that occasionally appears watching him from afar.

Your only form of communication is a walkie-talkie on which you speak to your supervisor, Delilah. Players may choose from a number of dialog options to interact with her, or even choose not to respond at all and those choices will influence your relationship with her.

Developed by Campo Santo and published by Panic for PlayStation 4 and Linux, Microsoft Windows, and OS X operating systems, Firewatch will be the debut video game by both companies.

And it looks to be shaping up as quite some debut too.

If you liked Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture then you will love Firewatch.

The premise is smack-you-in-the-face fresh and the artwork is wonderful which is a nod to its origins as a single painting which inspired its creators.

If you liked Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture then you will love Firewatch. The premise is smack-you-in-the-face fresh and the artwork is wonderful which is a nod to its origins as a single painting which inspired its creators.

Damien Lucas, reviewer

The game launched on Tuesday and is said to take around six hours to complete although there are lot of “off the beaten path” areas in the game that players won’t have to visit.

It has been compared in length to a trilogy of movies or mini-TV series.